Illinois, Iowa Test For Mold Threat To Corn

September 23, 1988|By George Gunset.

The nation`s two biggest corn producers, Illinois and Iowa, have begun statewide testing to determine whether contamination by a highly toxic mold is widespread in a crop already sharply reduced by drought.

Farmers can`t sell and in some cases must destroy corn that contains certain amounts of the carcinogenic mold aflatoxin, which is harmful to humans and animals.

Country elevators in Illinois have rejected as much as 5 to 10 percent of suspect newly harvested grain, said Walker Kirby, plant pathologist at the University of Illinois. But agriculture officials in Illinois and Iowa said that though testing has begun, it is too early to assess the seriousness of the aflatoxin problem.

About 12 percent of the corn harvest has been completed in Illinois and 25 percent in Iowa.

The Department of Agriculture has estimated Illinois corn production at 665 million bushels, down from 1.2 billion in 1987, and the Iowa harvest was projected at 811 million bushels versus 1.3 billion last year.

Drought conditions give the aflatoxin, which occurs naturally in the soil, a chance to flourish late in the growing season by cracking open the corn ear tips and giving the mold access, Kirby said.

``Aflatoxin is present but usually isn`t active in the three or four weeks before harvest,`` he said. ``It is inhibited by the cooler weather we normally have at that time.``

``We`re testing because we don`t want contaminated grain to get into the food chain,`` said Dale Cochran, Iowa secretary of agriculture. Corn is the nation`s major feed grain. It is fed to animals that produce the country`s poultry, pork, beef and dairy products.

Government guidelines cap aflatoxin content at 20 parts per billion for corn intended for use by humans or dairy animals, and elevators won`t buy grain that tests higher. Though corn containing as much as 100 parts per billion can be fed to nondairy animals, Kirby said it shouldn`t be given to pregnant animals.

``Grain containing as much as 200 to 300 parts per billion when fed to animals will cause such symptoms as loss of weight and refusal to eat,`` he said.

Cochran said the state will test corn samples gathered by Iowa State University from two grain elevators in each county and hopes to have preliminary results next week.

Illinois also has begun a comprehensive testing program. Thomas Jennings, chief of the Bureau of Warehouses in the Illinois Department of Agriculture, said five samples of new corn are being taken from ``as many elevators as possible`` in every corn-growing county in the state.

The samples are being sent to the department`s laboratory in Centralia for evaluation. Jennings said he hopes to have some indication of the seriousness of the problem by late next week.

Farmers who decide to store grain on the farm also face problems. U.S. Department of Agriculture rules say that corn containing 20 parts per billion or higher of aflatoxin are ineligible for crop loans.

Each state office of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service must determine if aflatoxin is a potential problem. If it is, the state office must require tests for all farm-stored, 1988-crop corn in particular counties or the entire state.

Stan Wilson, price support program specialist with the Illinois state office, said no determination has been made but the office is making spot checks and is requesting samples from around the state.

``As of now, I would say it is an isolated problem and not widespread,``

Wilson said. Kirby agreed that the outbreak is sporadic and concentrated where the drought was the worst and where the corn was planted early, in the north- central part of the state. In Iowa, the potential for more damage is in the southeast, where the drought hit hardest, Cochran said.

If the grain is unusable, farmers can burn it or plow it back into the soil and apply for a government crop disaster program payment for lost production.